Resurging
by Aiexe
Summary: Misty gets stuck in Hell, and Cordelia decides she will move earth and sky to get her back. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

The sand trickled down intransigently as Cordelia took her mentee in her arms and held her close to her chest. If Misty did not make it back in time, Cordelia understood she would never retrieve her from the torturous _purgatorio_ Misty plunged herself into an hour ago. She lowered her face to Misty's with a few words at the tip of her tongue, not expecting the calming scent of lavender and lemongrass to render her speechless. And in an instant, memories of their time together in Cordelia's workshop rushed through her mind. There was Misty's enthusiasm each time Cordelia taught her how to make a new herbal remedy or concoction. Then there was that beautiful smile accompanied by the sparkle in those breathtaking gray - blue eyes. She remembered the contagious laughter and joy of living Misty always seemed to harbor and the way she continually made Cordelia feel so special. No one else, not even Hank, had ever managed to make her feel so comfortable, appreciated, and extraordinary.

Her wave of memories receded when she felt tears streaming down her cheeks and _saw_ them landing on one side of Misty's face. A knot formed in her throat as she wiped away those fallen tears that had begun to stray onto Misty's rosy lips. She was still so warm and soft, and felt so fragile under Cordelia's fingers that she wiped even more gently now out of fear she would be the one to break her mentee instead of the hourglass.

"Misty," she managed through the heaviness settling in her chest, "listen to my voice." Her breaths were nearly becoming erratic at what she could no longer hold back: "Follow the light...come to me." She whispered in Latin, not hearing Myrtle's frigid statement that Misty's time was up, because all she wanted to do in that split second was capture with her second vision as much as she could of the young woman she held protectively in her arms. Cordelia breathed in her scent once again as she opened her eyes to take in every gleam of that strawberry blonde hair and the gorgeous face only inches away. She studied and imprinted every curve, every hue, every line and every glow in her mind, knowing that those beautiful lips and eyes would soon become memories pasted across a photo album thanks to the unforgiving sands of time. And she found herself defeated by her emotions as she began to lower her lips onto Misty's.

But time was quicker than her, and took Misty in a cloud of ash and dust before Cordelia could kiss her goodbye.

She let out a desperate cry as the frigid air violently usurped the space Misty once occupied, and profuse tears began to pour out as she begged inconsolably for her Misty. She looked and felt and searched for a trace of her love among all the dissipating ash, but nothing remained. The Descensum trial was over, and everyone in the room perceived exactly what Cordelia had been hiding from the coven except for Maddison, who was too busy celebrating the loss of the "swamp bitch."

Misty Day was gone, and all Cordelia could do was cry and feel part of her soul decay as she resolved to obligate time and space to give her back her love.


	2. Chapter 2

Myrtle pressed the lit end of her cigarette on the ashtray and stood from the couch after a moment of watching Cordelia break down before her. Her own pulse was racing, but not because of Misty; she had never seen Cordelia so vulnerable, and seeing her suffer so deeply made Myrtle's heart ache. She turned to the three other young witches with the intention of calling for a break, but saw how concerned Zoe and Queenie looked in comparison to Maddison. The insolent blonde witch had a curl at the edge of her lips itching to spread into a grin, and Myrtle wished nothing less than for the trial to have ended with Maddison festering in her own personal Hell rather than Misty. The impulse to assail the girl nearly took control of her, but she stifled her anger knowing that she was needed elsewhere.

"Let's take a moment to recollect ourselves, girls," she turned to Cordelia and kneeled down in front of her, taking her forearms and helping her up. "We will resume the Seven Wonders in half an hour," she said as she felt Cordelia quiver in her arms. With a wave of her hand she levitated Cordelia's cane off the floor and brought it to the blonde's left palm. Then she slid her left arm around the crying woman's back and took Cordelia's free hand with her right. "Come on, Delia, walk with me." Slowly, the two witches began to make their way out of the room. Queenie and Zoe did not take their eyes off the two women disappearing into another part of the house until Maddison laughed loud enough for only the two of them to hear.

"I guess that stupid muddy toad is out for good!"

"It should have been you, asshole," Zoe spat out in contempt, "she saved your life when you should have been rotting deep in the ground."

Maddison scoffed as she stood from her seat to get the cigarette holder on the coffee table. "I could've brought myself back if I wanted," she said taking a cigarette and lighting it with her powers.

"Then I hope you can bring yourself back when you die during the next few trials," Queenie said in repulsion. "Wipe that face off your head, bitch."

As soon as Myrtle brought Cordelia into the kitchen, she turned the blonde in her direction and embraced her as fully as she could. "I am so sorry, my darling," her words made Cordelia whimper and lose the small amount of composure she had mustered, and she held Myrtle tighter as she buried her face in the older woman's shoulder.

"Delia, dear, why didn't you ever tell me?" She said softly in her ear after a moment. Cordelia loosened her hold and faced Myrtle, unsure of how she could justify keeping a secret from the only person she fully trusted. Her lips parted to say something, but no words came out.

"I am not mad, dearie," Myrtle said bringing one hand up to Cordelia's shoulder, "I am just worried about you."

The blonde took a moment to build up the strength to speak, and finding her voice after a few deep breaths, she intoned: "I never told you because I myself don't know how it happened. All I know is that a few days of working with her in the greenhouse made me feel things I never thought I could feel." Myrtle searched her unseeing eyes, "like what?" Cordelia swallowed the lump that was threatening to build up. "Initially, her enthusiasm to learn made me excited about teaching again. It felt so…fulfilling to see her excel at everything I taught her. I wanted her to reach her highest potential, or at the very least encourage her to do so by exposing her to new material each week. And for a while my feelings were purely platonic, but then everything began to change without us realizing it." She paused for a moment, figuring out how to word what she needed to express. "Eventually we became so comfortable with each other that she would play her Stevie Nicks albums as we worked, and she would sing along and urge me to sing with her as our day started winding down. She would make me laugh so much and make me feel like nothing beyond those walls existed. All of a sudden there were no witch hunters, no Fiona plotting to kill the next supreme, no voodoo queens obligating their Gods to cast a calamity upon us through sacrificial rituals, no unrested souls wandering about our house cursing our names, and no threat of extinction. All that was left in my world was her and I among our plants, the music, and her voice." Tears began to swell in her eyes once again, and Myrtle began to feel her own emotions surging as she fathomed the extent of Cordelia's feelings for Misty. "What else, darling?"

Her tone became more emotional. "She just knew how to pull me from my darkest moments like nobody else, Myrtle. One day, she caught me crying in the greenhouse after Fiona called me all sorts of things because I married a witch hunter. I didn't hear her come in as I cried by the sink, and by the time she called my name, it was already too late and I could not hide the fact that I was upset. She tried to make me feel better, but I kept telling her that Fiona was right in everything about me. That is when Misty brought one of the desiccated plants we kept in a corner of the greenhouse and placed it on the table in front of me. Then she spoke one of the incantations I was teaching her that week, and the plant suddenly came to life without her having applied any remedy to it. She asked me how I was able to teach her that spell so well if I was such a failure." Cordelia smiled sadly through heavy tears, "and that is when something became clear to me." She stopped herself from saying anything further, not sure as to whether she wanted to confirm what almost everyone in the living room suspected.

The older woman sensed the hesitation in Cordelia's silence, and brought her hand to cup Cordelia's cheek. "Tell me, Delia."

"I felt so free, so complete when she would look at me. Like there was nothing I couldn't be as long as she was with me. And I…" her voice cracked.

"Don't be ashamed, my dear."

"I _want_ her here with me," The tears suspended, "I don't want to walk down the stairs every morning to find she is not in the dining room, and I don't want to step into my workshop knowing she will not be there waiting for me. " She shut her eyes as the reality of Misty's absence pierced her heart, "I need to get her out of there. I don't ever want to be without her and she doesn't deserve to be trapped in…in…" she could not utter the rest of her sentence, and realizing it, Myrtle wiped away the tears that had collected by her thumb on Cordelia's cheek and pulled her in for another comforting embrace. "Oh, sweetheart." She soothed Cordelia's back, allowing her to let out the pain for however long she needed, and as Cordelia sobbed on her shoulder, Myrtle began preparing herself for the inevitable:

"Myrtle?"

"What is it, dear?"

"Tell me we can bring her back." It was a helpless plea, and Myrtle would have given the powers she did not have to lift Cordelia's spirits.

"As painful as it is, there isn't much we can do to help her, Delia. She has lost her physical form due to how long she has been trapped in that abyss, and the universe knows it won't be long until she loses her sense of self."

Cordelia faced her as if she were actually meeting Myrtle's gaze. "There must be something we can do. I don't care how precarious, Myrtle."

Myrtle thought for a moment. She needed to make sure her answer would deter Cordelia from venturing into anything precipitous. "There is something we can do, but it is only Misty who can get herself out of that place."

"Tell me."

Myrtle shook her head, "I think it's best for us to leave it for another time, but I will tell you this: we need the help of the new supreme, and until we find her, our chances of bringing Misty Day back are close to none."

Cordelia sighed in resignation before loosening her hold on Myrtle, fixing her cane in her palm, and turning in the direction she knew they originally came from. "Then I suppose the sooner we find her, the better."

Myrtle studied the woman in front of her for a brief moment before she entwined Cordelia's arm around her elbow. As much as it hurt her to see Cordelia suffering, she knew they needed to conclude the trial of the seven wonders to find the next supreme. Nothing, currently, was more imperative. The urgency for protection against the exterior world would begin to abate by identifying their next leader, and God did they need someone to replace Fiona. Until then, Misty Day would have to wait.

"Delia," she said diffidently as they walked back to the living room, not wanting to pry and knowing how much pain her next question would cause Cordelia. "Did you ever tell her?"

Cordelia knew exactly what Myrtle was asking, and felt her chest grow cold with heartache as she was about to reply. "No. She never knew how I felt about her."


End file.
